What Do You Want From Me?
by streetofdreamsx
Summary: Beth Phoenix returns to SmackDown after an injury and a break up with the Dashing superstar. Things have changed and Rhodes realizes he never wanted that to happen.
1. Chapter 1

"Cody, I'm fine." Beth repeated once again, forcing a smile to appear on her lips. Even on the phone when Cody couldn't see her, she always had to smile. He knew her all too well to tell she wasn't smiling. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" the blonde asked, trying to finally end the conversation.

After she pressed the button to end the call, Beth breathed out deeply. Even mere conversations on the phone were torture ever since they split. Her heart seemed to sink again at the sight of her phone's wallpaper. A picture of them from the New Year's in Aspen. A smile appeared on the Diva's lips as she recalled the moment ever so perfectly: Cody had ordered her favourite dessert and clumsily written "I love U" on the plate with chocolate fondue. Following that moment, he asked for a picture to be taken of him and "the love of his life, the woman he had always dreamed of". After the picture was snapped, he stole a gentle kiss from her a lips and, looking at the photo, he laughed about how he could "see Beth's bra through her shirt" and how Beth retaliated by making fun of his girly smile.

She could still hear his voice, feel his soft lips being pressed against hers, see his gappy teeth perfectly, admire the dimples flawlessly suiting his cheeks. Her whole face lip up at the simple thought of him. How could someone get over that? Once again, the Glamazon had to take a deep breath and remind herself of the promise she had made to him and her: never cry over _them_.

* * *

Sitting alone at the front row seats, Beth watched the ring being thoroughly set up, busy men carrying metal structures, other men sweeping around the space, the mat carefully being stretched. In a few short minutes, she would have no choice but to go backstage to get changed and, inevitably, she would come across Cody or someone to ask if she had seen him. Shaking her head at that thought, Beth inhaled and leaned her head back, looking at the bright lights above. Exhaling, a very pessimistic Diva brought her hand up to her face, fingertips touching her eyelids.

As she got up and walked up the ramp, her blue eyes focused on the floor, the voices backstage became louder. "This won't get to you." Beth mumbled under her breath with a quick nod for reassurance. "Better than ever."

Backstage, quickly waving her hand at Phil with a smile as she walked by, Beth heard a voice calling her name. For a second, her heart skipped a beat while a hand landed on her shoulder gently. Turning her head, she saw Natalya's bright smile. Of course, that voice could never be Cody's. if only she would have taken a second to rationalize, she would have figured that out.

"You have no idea what I've done today at the gym!" Natalya's eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement, followed by a hand gesture that showed nothing but amazement. Beth kept nodding and smiling at Nattie's tale, her eyes scanning all the faces she could find, scooping for a blue eyed brunette, probably looking at himself in the mirror or just standing with his hand on his hip while talking over his match.

"Oh!" Natalya caught the older Diva's attention, causing her to turn her head with a sudden movement. "Cody asked about you."

Beth was not sure about what she was feeling when she heard those words. Part of her want to run to him, part of her wanted to run from him. With a slight fear, the blonde finally asked "what did he want?"

"I'm not sure, something about his Triforce shirt for good luck… he said you should just look for him." Neidhart spoke briefly, eager to return to her story.

Soon enough, she would be interrupted by Beth. "Nattie, you'll finish your story later, yes? I'm going to look for Cody… it may be urgent."

"Well, a good luck shirt with some symbol doesn't seem exactly vital," Natalya joked, tucking her hair behind her ear. She was aware of how strung the opposite woman was on the Dashing superstar and she knew that no matter the subject she approached next, her mind would be far away. "Go get it sorted though." She added with a wink.

Still long enough for the start of the show when Beth decided to look for her former beau. It had been a while since she had been there but she was certain that at that point of the night, Cody would be alone in the locker room, getting ready before any other guys could take over the space. "They don't understand I need to look perfect" he always excused himself about the habit.

Around the corner, the locker room door was semi open and before going any further, the Diva looked around to make sure no one would see her getting in, to avoid starting any rumours and, after a quick glance at the floor, she fixed her shirt with a fast pull on the edge. "Cody?"

"Come in."

Pushing the door open completely, unveiling the empty room, with only Cody facing a mirror. Beth stepped in, biting on her bottom lip not to laugh. He hadn't changed.

"Sweetheart, does this jacket look nice?" the wrestler turned around, showing the mirror on the back of his jacket.

"Whoa… wow…" Beth widened her eyes at first but after stepping closer, she narrowed her eyes to carefully look in the mirror. "Very…"

"Dashing, I know." Cody spun around again, this time to be standing facing the woman. Displaying his bright, flawless smile, he gently slid his fingertips along the collar, almost as if he was telling her to take a good look at it.

"I was going to say gay, but dashing also covers it." her soft voice echoed around the empty room. Her eyes travelled from the collar of his jacket, to the engraved _DC_ letters, from his deep blue eyes to his charming white smile. "I heard you needed me?"

"Ah, yes. You know my black shirt with the white triforce symbol in front? The one I need to have with me at all times…"

"Yes, I'm aware." Beth rolled her eyes like usual when the subject was that beloved shirt.

"Well, I can't find it so I'm guessing I left it at your place." Cody raised his eyebrows, looking at the Diva.

"I don't think –"

"I'm pretty sure I did." The Dashing Superstar cut her off. "I'll need it soon, so in two days when the tour starts, just meet me in my hotel room so I can make sure to pack it safely."


	2. Chapter 2

Despite how ludicrous Beth found Cody's love for his good luck shirt, she turned her place upside down looking for the shirt. Her every drawer, every closet, the drawers he used to store his belongings when staying over, the laundry room… everywhere. She couldn't find it. She texted him asking once again if he was sure he didn't have it and he replied with a simple "no". Even if she had not found it, Cody didn't pick up any of her calls or gave her a sign that he had received the texts, therefore she still had to go up to his room to inform him about the fatality and, knowing him, probably arrange a mini funeral in memory of his good luck charm.

After quickly dropping everything in her room, Beth went up a floor to meet him. She knocked at the door and heard a few quick steps towards the door. As soon as Cody opened the door, it became clear why she couldn't find the shirt. "Cody, that's the shirt –"

The man cut her off and landing his hand on her wrist, he pulled her inside, closing the door behind them. "I had the shirt after all." He smirked with a shrug, moving his hand down further to lock fingers with her gently.

More than anything, Beth was confused, clueless looking at him. 'Why does he want me here? Why is he touching me like this? Why did he go to the trouble of engineering a plan like this just to see me when we could see each other often at work?' The blonde beauty asked herself as her lips parted to let out a barely audible "Cody…"

"God, I missed this." He almost uttered in a whisper, squeezing her hand tightly and slowly pushing her hair away from her face with his free hand. "I missed hearing you say my name, I missed your beautiful face." The wrestler leaned his head, brushing his lips against hers.

With a quick movement, Beth pulled away after hardly even feeling his lips. "What the hell? You can't do this to Layla." She scoffed, pulling her hand from his and stepping to the side a bit. Running her fingers through her hair, the Diva tried to get a hold of her thoughts – so many and at the same time – and nothing seemed to make sense. _He_ was the one to break up with her, _he_was the one moving on so fast and getting in what seemed a very committed relationship with another Diva. Sitting on the bed, the Glamazon propped her elbows on her knees, cradling her face. "What do you want?" She questioned in a sigh, her eyes closed as her hands touched her face.

"I want you."

"But why did you have to do this now? I was fine, Cody!" she raised her voice, finally opening her eyes and watching him as he paced around the room, slowing down every time he stepped close to her. "I was finally dealing with everything, I was moving on, why did you have to come and confuse the shit out of me?"

For a moment, Cody was absolutely appalled and his movements froze. Beth was never one to curse, in any circumstances, so he must had really confused her. "I want you back. You have no idea how pissed off I was when Layla told me you were seeing Phil." Taking a few steps, Cody took a seat next to the woman, on the bed. "I realized I had made a mistake by getting with Layla. She's fantastic but Lord knows she's not you – in any way, shape or form."

"Well, guess what? You can't decide you want me back just because you know someone else wants me. I'm not a toy." Beth spat out angrily, batting his arm away as he attempted to throw it over her.

Cody could hardly believe her words. He was positive that she still had feelings for him. He could tell by the way she looked in his eyes or, sometimes, avoided them. Even if the opposite was remotely possible, the blonde was supposed to succumb to his sweet words and dashing smile. According to his plan, by now, Beth was supposed to be laying naked under him. Along with that thought, Cody's blue eyes travelled up and down her curves while the Glamazon was now standing on her feet by the bed.

Beth was just surprised by her own words. Not that she was a coward to ever hold back any thoughts or opinions, but to actually diss him like that? That sure was something. A few months ago - even weeks -, she wouldn't have been strong enough to keep herself away from him and at that point, his flawless body would be fully undressed for her to see. With a head shake from side to side, the blonde tried to get rid of such images and took a deep breath. _Not this time_, she mentally scolded herself.

The minutes of silence seemed hours for both of them, long enough to build theories, figure what to say next, wonder if it was time to leave. When Beth turned around and found Cody still looking at her, her heart fell to pieces. He looked so full of regret, so disoriented, so heartbroken. Before she could attempt to say something comforting, Cody's voice could be heard. "Is it because you really like Phil?" he was almost inaudible as his fingers trailed his lips.

"Cody, no…"

"Then why is it? You used to be crazy about me." The wrestler pushed himself up and out of the bed, stepping close to Beth, hoping to disarm her and understand what was going in her head.

Beth asked herself the same. She knew she loved him still but after so long trying to discover bad things about him just so she could teach herself to like him less and put him inside of a box in her memory, she couldn't afford let him out of the box to hurt her again. "You tell me. You tell me why you broke up with me if you still cared that much."

Sighing, Cody glued his hand to his hip. Back then it all seemed to make sense but now, it was ridiculous. "Self preservation. You got drafted to Smackdown. We all know interbrand relationships don't work and before you could dump me, I talked myself out of having feelings for you." He lowered his head as well as his voice, almost mumbling. "Great job at it, clearly."

"So what now? I let you back in my life and wait for one of us to be drafted again so you can break my heart again, for _self preservation_?" Beth shrugged her shoulders with her arms outstretched a bit and her palms facing up, emphasising "self preservation". Although she could understand his point and gotten Cody to admit his wrongs, she couldn't just give in like that. Not after all the kind of emotions she went though with the break up.

Cody advanced slowly, placing his hand on her lower back and running his delicate fingers through her soft, blonde hair. "I'm in love with you, I still want to belong to you."

Those blue eyes staring at her, Beth found it hard to answer, move or even breathe. But she had to do something, say something, so the Diva took a deep breath and looked down. "No." Beth moved towards the door slowly, turning to glance at him before leaving the room. "I'm sorry Cody, but you can't do this to Layla." She saw a speechless man standing with his arms crossed over his chest. "And I can't do this to Phil."


	3. Chapter 3

"What are we doing tonight, Mr. D?"

Cody sighed again loudly, almost in despair. Lately, the sound of Layla's voice made him want to flinch and soon, that feeling would come to life when she walked up to him and, from behind, placed both of her hands on his waist. The "Mr.D" thing started by being a lovely way for the Diva to secretly proclaim her love for him on Twitter but now, it was absolutely cringe worthy. He could remember perfectly how it all started with Layla saying "Dashing" was too obvious and everyone would instantly find out who she was dating. It was adorable. How had it become unbearable?

He had been hiding from Layla, hiding from Beth, hiding from Punk. Hiding from everyone. He wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone and even taking pictures and signing autographs had become an effort. All he was doing lately was staying up in his room, playing video games or bickering with Dustin via text but not even none of those things were fun anymore. In moments like these, Cody wished he was still on Raw with Randy and Ted, even if they only pick on him or each other so much or if they were constantly playing pranks on him. At least he wouldn't have to look at Beth every single day and his feelings wouldn't have resurfaced.

"Babe, you there?" Layla gripped onto the edge of his shirt tightly with one hand and pushed herself up a bit, standing on the tip of her toes to reach his ear and whisper as she snapped her fingers a couple of times in front of his face, to call him back down to earth.

Cody turned his face to look at her, faking a smile to hide his nuisance and a "Uh? What?" in a very groggy voice could be heard.

"I was asking what are our plans for tonight." Layla repeated slowly to make sure he would truly understand this time, leaving a gentle kiss on his cheek and occupying the stool next to him. AFter a bit of shifting and turning on her seat, she added, "Are we just going to stay here for drinks or…"

"You realize we don't have to spend every night together, don't you?" His blue eyes widened as he spoke, with his eyebrows raising and following his speech, slowly nodding his head at her as he uttered his words. When he broke the shared look between the two of them, the Dashing superstar casually took a small sip out of his beer.

The British beauty suddenly raised her eyebrows at her boyfriend's question, almost as if she was mirroring the man's expression. "But… this will be our last night together, before we get our days off. Means we won't be together until next Wednesday." Her voice was the softest it could be, taken by the confusion the Diva was feeling at Cody's words. It wasn't usual for him to act like this and come think of it, Layla had never seen him act in such way, with anyone.

Rolling his eyes, Cody looked around. Where were the guys when he needed them to appear out of nowhere to invite him for a "guys only" night out? "Lay, that's in four days." The wrestler looked again at her. "I think we'll live."

"Why in bloody hell are you acting like this?" The woman questioned him, nearly in a pleading voice. Her soft tone was gone and the confusion had given place to a hissy fit. For a brief moment, she had to hold back from slamming her fist on the cold, metallic surface of the counter. Instead, her hand flew to her hip and her head was tilted to the side just slightly, waiting for the man to say something and excuse himself. Soon, anguish would once again take over her and her voice became almost a worried whisper. "You've been acting so strange lately, Cody."

Cody finished his beer and placed the empty bottle back down on, looking down and focusing on his fingers travelling back and forth on the moist glass. "I think I'm done."

With a quick shrug, Layla filled her cheeks with hair and exhaled deeply. "Fine, we don't have to go anywhere. Jesus." She turned her face to look for the bartender, ready to order her drink.

"No." Cody paused until his gloomy voice caused her to turn her face and give him all of her attention. He tried to find the courage to look in her eyes and explain what he truly meant. Before he spoke, his face was almost instinctively turned away from hers, his deep blue eyes looking to avoid her brown ones. One thing he hated was to hurt people, that sometimes was his downfall but he had to do the right thing, unlike so many other times. This time it was imperative and though he felt his heart pounding, almost racing out of his chest, his lips parted at last. "I'm done with us."

No words from any of them, for a moment. Cody still stared at her, waiting for a reaction but Layla seemed to not even have heard what he said. From Cody's side, nothing but relief. He loved Layla, she was an incredible, beautiful, intelligent woman. But truth was, _she wasn't Beth_. In the way he saw things, loving her, in this case, didn't mean _being in love_.

"You know Beth's with Phil, don't you?" The brunette broke the long, umfomfortable silence, speaking softly, much to Cody's surprise.

"This is not about –"

"Yes. Yes, it is, Cody. It's about Beth." Layla shook her head from side to side, nervously letting out a chuckle. "I knew this would happen, you're so obviously fallen for her… I was stupid for believing you had gotten over her so quickly." She rested her forehead on the palm of her head, before pushing herself up out of her seat.

Cody ran his fingers along his jaw. "I'm sorry." He let out, even if he wasn't. It couldn't be helped, he had feelings for someone else and he knew it wasn't fair for anyone involved if he kept going with the façade. He knew Layla deserved someone better, someone who would truly love her and look after her and _she_ wasn't the one he wanted to look after.

It became clear that he had made the right choice when a very subtle - and forced - smile appeared on Layla's face before she turned her back on him to walk towards a near by table and go meet her friends. Cody knew her well enough to know he would have to stay back for a few days, maybe weeks, but he hoped he could recover his friendship with her.

If the only thing holding Beth from being his was Layla and Phil… one issue down, one more to go.


	4. Chapter 4

"Have you heard?"

Natalya's voice pulled Beth back to reality, causing the blonde to let go off her shoe laces and lift her head up, giving up on the task of untangling the cords. Beth often "heard" of everything – rumours of new signings to the company, of new releases or intensions to, of new couples starting and other ones coming to an end – and it was almost always irrelevant to her life. This didn't seem the case, seeing how Nattie was usually as careless as herself when it came to gossips, so Beth decided to do her the favour and finally ask "What's that?"

A bright smile blossomed on the older woman's face and with a tuck of her hair behind her ear, Natalya occupied the empty seat next to Beth. "Cody broke up with Layla..." She almost squealed with excitement as her eyes smiled at Beth.

"They broke up? That's unfortunate..."

"Wh – no." Natalya narrowed her eyes at the Diva, her eyebrows meeting with the curiosity being sparkled by Beth's apparent careless remark. "Beth... _He_ broke up with her." She added with a light expression back on her face and a self explanatory emphasis on the 'he' part. Her hand was gently rested on the opposite woman's shoulder as if she was offering her a push of encouragement.

In response, a careless shrug from Beth, as quick and unconscious as a spasm. She was trying so hard not to care abut the new information or about Cody at all, as of late, and her friend had to come and tell her this. With a shake of her head, attempting to shake the thought itself out of her head, her lips parted as her head turned to look at Nattie. "Where are we eating then?"

The surprised look on Natalya's face could not be disguised and it gave away how confused she was feeling. She questioned herself about how it was possible for her friend to steer away from the subject so easily, when she was sure the feeling Beth had for Cody were still there; she had been there for both sides of the story and, for as much as she loved Punk, it was clear he was the extra side on this story. In the way Natalya saw it, she was choosing to be blind towards the obvious, so she decided to drop the subject, still hoping it would stay on Beth's mind.

* * *

The dark and silent room seemed much bigger when Beth saw herself alone and trying to force sleep into her, squeezing her eyes shut and grabbing the pillow tightly. After Natalya decided to leave her, Beth had given up on watching the movie and chose that sleep would be the best thing for her. Soon, she would also give up on that and blindly moved her hand on the bedside table to look for her phone.

After she sat up and rested her back against the cold surface of the headboard, she quickly and effortlessly typed "Can you come up to my room? Don't want to be alone tonight", making sure there were no typos or misspelled words before sending it to her boyfriend.

Beth had felt so weird all day, constantly out of place even if she wasn't in a strange environment; alone though she was surrounded by friends, sick to her stomach without a reason for it. It was killing her not knowing what was wrong. It was like she had a strong gut feeling about something although the Diva never paid attention to any of that... she wagged her blonde head as soon as she heard a knock on the door and in a jump, Beth got on her feet to nearly run to the door.

Punk's shape rapidly became visible once the blonde opened the door. Without hesitating, she threw her arms around the man's neck before he could even get past the door. In the tight hold, his voice could be heard, almost muffled by the crook of Beth's neck. "What's up?" he asked, rubbing her back in his most lovingly way.

"Nothing." Beth let him go at last, displaying her biggest smile as she pulled him inside and closed the door behind them. "I just didn't feel like being alone." Her blue eyes looked away from the wrestler's although her hand searched for his, to squeeze it gently and caress it.

"Oh... okay."

"Why? Did you have other plans?" The Diva looked at him again, her hand no longer moving against his. It wasn't usual from him but this once, he didn't seem too thrilled about spending time with his girlfriend.

"No, I was just going to sleep. I'm exhausted." Punk answered in the same careless tone, shrugging his shoulders.

Beth stood silent, waiting for him to add something but it didn't seem about to happen. That was great, not only did her own boyfriend seem uninterested in keeping her company but he also didn't seem in the mood to talk. Rather than thinking that out loud, a smile formed on Beth's lips as her hand went back to rub the other man's. "Well, you can still sleep. Here. With me."

Getting a simple nod in response, Beth mirrored his gesture and climbed back inside of the bed. Unlike what she expected, Punk simply lied on top of the bed, next to her, with his clothes still on and, once again that night, she spared any questions and just looked around, in hopes that her boyfriend would actually get out of the funk he was in and get _her_ in a better mood.

Beth waited for him to break the silence, looking around the room as she did, focusing on the random and imaginary spots in the walls. 'Need to wake up extra early tomorrow to pack everything,' the Glamazon reminded herself while her eyes wandered through the messy clothes draping on the chairs, bags on the floor, make-up all over the dresser... wrinkling her nose in disgust, she wondered how on earth she had let everything get so chaotic when she had only been in that room for not longer than five hours total – even photos were already all over the dresser. At the sight of the portraits, Beth narrowed her eyes and lifted her head from the pillow to get a better view. She didn't recall carrying any photos, let alone taking them out of any bags and leaving them out there. After putting a lot of effort into the task, the blonde could see her own features next to a dark haired man wearing a light grey shirt...

"Oh god..." Beth gasped with her widening eyes almost in panic. It was her favourite photo with Cody and that realization made her heart skip a beat. She was absolutely sure that the picture hadn't come from her – Beth remembered clearly step by step having taken everything from _them_, storing it in a box in her closet, much like a symbolic burial. How was it possible?

"What's that, babe?" The wrestler finally spoke, turning his head to look at the blonde whose face still remained frozen with a surprised expression.

She swallowed hard and pursed her lips. Shifting closer to him, Beth landed her hand on Punk's chest, letting her head fall against it. "I was just noticing the mess in my room..." Hopefully, he hadn't noticed the photo and would move on without asking any more questions.

Upon hearing the man's "hum" in response, the Diva closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, feeling an immense relief. She nuzzled her face against his chest and her eyes suddenly flew open once again even before exhaling. The muscles of her forehead constricted, her eyebrows almost meeting. His scent – it wasn't his usual scent. "Cody, what's that sm –"

"What?"

"What?" Beth's brain stopped functioning. She couldn't move, think of excuses or even find useful words. All she could do was repeat his question, again and again, out loud and inside of her head.

Cocking his eyebrow, the man shifted his body on the mattress slightly to tilt his head and look at Beth. Her mouth was hanging open but she still wasn't answering his question. He widened his eyes as his shoulders were lifted, still waiting for an answer.

Had she really said her ex-boyfriend's name? Her lips parted and only a small whimper was heard when her eyes met the confused and clueless gaze on the wrestler's face. "Your perfume... It reminded me..."

"I should probably go."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note:** Thank you all for the reviews so far!

* * *

The metallic sound of the dumbbells landing on the floor were loud enough to distract a very hard at work Cody Rhodes, who, after lazily moving his head from side to side in a missed attempt to search for what was going on, promptly paused his iPod after blasting his workout playlist all morning and removed the headphones from his ears to leave them around his neck.

The gym was close to being packed but the restless presence of his fellow wrestler CM Punk was hard to go unnoticed – not only was his treatment of the equipment particularly aggressive but he also seemed to be having trouble giving more than thirty seconds of his attention to an exercise. Punk kept pacing back and forth with his music blaring out of his headphones, not lifting his head to look at anyone.

Without giving it much thought, Cody decided to approach his friend – of course he only decided to do so after making sure the other wrestler had nothing in his hand that could be throw at his _dashing_ face – and walked over to Punk. He called out his name twice but the man was too consumed by the music to hear him, so he tapped his hand on his shoulder a couple of times, immediately earning a not so friendly glare and apathetic, hardly audible "what?"

"You okay? I know you don't play but today you seem so... so –"

"I can't ever get rid of you, can I?" He questioned rhetorically, interrupting Cody. The wrestler looked in the mirror as he positioned himself in the machine, shifting back and forth on the seat, looking for the precise comfortable position.

"Uh, get rid of me? I've hardly talked to you lately..." Rhodes raised and lowered his shoulders, freezing in that position and waiting for further information from his friend. 'Now I remember why' it appeared clear on his head why he chose to avoid the opposite man for the most part, besides the obvious reason; he was an intelligent man and, on his good days, amazing, constructive discussions could be held. Too bad his good days weren't that many... "Oh-kay, I'll leave you to torture everything in this gym." The superstar surrendered and added with a fake smile as he turned his back on his friend.

Sighing loudly, he flew his hand to cradle his face and let it fall slightly to stroke his dark beard, the Straight Edge Superstar finally responded, in a breathy, aggravated tone. "My girlfriend said _your_ fucking name last night."

"Oh man... that fucking sucks." He removed the bashful smile from his face and wagged his head while he turned to face the disturbed man, hanging his head low. Cody would have loved to bask in the precious moment but this was serious and he hadn't taken acting lessons for nothing... "Really, Phil, do you think she's not over me yet?"

"Apparently not."

"Well," this was it, it was time for Cody to say the speech he had been mentally working on for a while, "then she doesn't deserve you. Phil, you are a fine looking fellow," he landed his hand on Punk's shoulder and braced himself not to laugh at his own words. "You could do with someone crazy about you. Beth's a great girl but I'm sure you'd have no trouble finding someone who could truly only have eyes for you. Why get through this?"

Punk lifted his head and, throughout Cody's well thought statements, his expression had gone from a frown, to a cocked brow of curiosity, to finally a light, apprehensive look. "Why are you telling me this, Rhodes? We're not that close..."

'Oh god, am I he not being convincing enough? Am I talking too much? Is it obvious that I planned on saying this?' Cody questioned himself, with his facial muscles tensing and a nervous laugh escaped his lips. "I'm happy, the happiest I've ever been and I see you looking like shit – no one deserves that." He answered with an assertive nod to follow.

"You sure? There's no interest on your side?" The wrestler explained what he actually meant by his previous question.

"What interest? I'm with Layla and we're as serious as it gets." His face was blank and the wrestler was now congratulating himself on his brilliant, unsuspicious persuasion towards the other man. Rhodes was sure that his acting had just been Oscar worthy, better than any promo he had ever cut. After all, he did have a very strong motivation for this one...

"I thought you two had broken up."

"What – no, no," Rhodes laughed it out, trying to disguise his sudden nervousness. "That's just rumours. Lay and I are doing great and I wish everyone could be as happy as we are. That's my point – With or without Beth, you deserve to be happy."

* * *

"Have you seen Phil?" Beth tapped her hand against the referee's shoulder, one of the few standing backstage. The gesture had been repeated so many times that night that the Diva seemed to have lost count. Upon seeing the man shake his head from side to side, she rolled her eyes and bit her tongue not to let out any bad words. All day, the faces and places changed but the question and answer remained the same – no one had laid eyes on him. She hadn't seen him at the hotel, at the arena or at the gym where they were supposed to meet.

Although she still wasn't certain about what she should say to him, Beth was sure that an apology was much needed. She was dazed about what had happened but admittedly, mistaking the name of her current boyfriend with the name of her ex was not to happen, under any circumstances. "Phil" and "Cody" were not even remotely close names... how could it happen like that?

"Beth!"

"Oh my god, Nattie! Have you seen Phil?" The question desperately slipped out of her lips as her hands were extended in front of her torso, like she was about to give up and fall on the floor.

"Phil? Are you sure he's the one you're looking for? Are you sure _that's_ the name you wanted to say?" The third generation wrestler cocked her eyebrow, eyeing the opposite blonde as she, more than ever, seemed to want to give up.

Beth clenched her teeth before saying anything she could later regret. She very much regretted having confessed to her friend the mistake of the night before but Natalya knew her all too well and seeing how upset she was, she would have never left her alone. "Yes," the Diva sighed, "I do mean Phil."

"Nope, haven't seen him."

Immediately tilting her head back, the Glamazon opened her mouth to let out a grunt of frustration.

"I think someone called you though. I heard something coming from your bag, in the locker room." Natalya added.

Rapidly spinning on her heels, Beth hurriedly walked to the Divas' locker room, only letting out a "thank you" with a quick wave at her friend.

The corridors were busy enough with everyone working to get the show going so the blonde was able to nearly run among the small crowd without being asked any questions. With the door of the locker room already opened, Beth stepped in unnoticed by all the catty Divas. In a blink of an eye, the beauty unzipped her bag and saw her iPhone laying on top of her carefully packed belongings. She finally moved her thumb across the screen and. Rather than looking at the missed call once it became lit, the Diva could only look at the wallpaper. "What... how..." she whispered as her eyebrows wrinkled.

The photo of herself with both of her dogs had given place to a photo of her and Cody, a photo she had long ago deleted and the same photo that had appeared the night before, displaying on her dresser. Her hand still clutched the phone and the women's voices seemed to become lower and more distant; Beth was staring at the photo even if in reality, she wasn't _looking_ at it.

She could only find one explanation and she didn't want to believe it could be it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:** Finally, the long overdue update! I am so sorry to everyone who follows this story - not only did I fall out of love with this story but I also lost a bit of interest in the WWE fandom. So, have a new chapter, even if not very long, and hopefully, there'll be another chapter soon. Thanks for all the reviews so far.

* * *

"What do you think you're doing?"

The blonde turned her head in a jump, her pink streaks floating on her shoulder and her lips parting with surprise as Beth's shape flooded her gaze. Natalya raised her eyebrows, moving her neck forward to encourage her friend to explain herself but she failed to get anything more than a frown from the opposite blonde, who rested her hand on her waist and shifted her weight to one leg, jutting her hip out. "... What?" Natalya let out in a genuinely confused and dragged voice.

"Oh, come on Nattie." Beth shot, almost over her friend's question as if the sound of her voice had reached her ears before she even uttered the word. "The wallpaper on my cell phone? That picture on top of my dresser?"

Natalya bit on the inside of her lip and filled her cheeks with air, letting it out in a sigh. "You'll have to be more specific."

"Well, do you need me to spell it out for you?" The Glamazon posed rhetorically with her blue eyes narrowed in her friend's direction and her arms folded over her chest. "I am not stupid. I can tell how you try to push me to Cody again... it's – it's obvious you're behind all of this." The Diva rolled her eyes and shook her head from side to side quickly.

As Beth progressed on her speech, Natalya began to draw a smile on her lips, finally letting out a cackle. When Beth's forehead wrinkled and her eyes seemed to shoot fire, Nattie pursed her lips, pulling a straight face. "Beth –"

"You think it's funny, uh? Phil got mad at me and... and you find it... amusing?" The Diva looked severely aggravated, barely pronouncing phrases in order to make sense and her voice being gradually raised.

Her friend noticed Beth's cheeks turning bright pink as she struggled not to 'hmph' and 'ugh' in her explanation. "Beth..." Nattie left her spot in front of the mirror and took a couple of steps to stand in front of her friend. Gently placing her hand on the Diva's shoulder, she cleared her throat. "Beth, I didn't do anything."

The Glamazon swallowed hard and her cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink, embarrassment now replacing the anger. Although she hoped it wouldn't be happening, a glance at her own figure in the mirror and the hotness she felt on her skin made it obvious that her shame was on show. She had been rambling and blaming one of her best friend for no reason after all; she didn't even take the time to look at her friend properly and realize that she truly did not understand what she was accusing her for. Now that she looked at it, she couldn't even see why Natalya wanting her to be with Cody had become a reason for her to accuse the other Diva.

"Then... what is going on?"

"I don't know... I'm..." Natalya quickly shook her head from side to side, her hands helplessly moving as she was pulling invisible strings.

"You're lying. I know you, Nattie." Beth's blue eyes searched for the other Diva's, a pleading tone present in her voice. Natalya was lying, that was obvious by the way her hands moved frantically and she looked to avoid the older woman's eyes.

"I can't tell you anything."

So she knew something. So there was something to be told. Beth rested her palms on her friend's shoulder and took a deep breath. "Nattie, my life is a mess because of all this... you _need_ to tell me what's going on... Is it Cody –?"

"Wrong time again..." A man's voice came from the door in a exasperated sigh and, as both women turned to face him, he turned his back on them.

Phoenix's heart could have stopped for all she felt when she caught the first glimpse of the man and identified his recognizable tattoos along with the "Best In The World" shirt. Her shaky legs weren't an impediment to storming out of the room and going after the man. "Phil, just listen to me."

He stopped. His palms rubbed against the sweaty back of his neck and his eyes flew shut. He couldn't turn around to face her, her couldn't look at her... he wasn't even sure if he could listen to her voice – especially if she was going to say _his_ name again.

"I don't know how to put this but strange things are happening. I'm sure everything sounds awful to you but you need to believe me..."

The wrestler finally turned around to face Beth, who stood a good couple of steps behind him with her arms folded across her chest and the most serious, almost pleading expression on her face he had yet seen. "You know what? Cody's right." Punk rolled his eyes when the name left his lips. Ever since they got together, he tried his best to pretend he didn't see_ it_ – the sadness that seemed to wash over Beth every time she was in the same room as Cody, the envy that reeked from her every time she had to look at Layla by his side, the smile she tried to hide every time her eyes met Cody's. He was never a man to hurt over women, he always found that pathetic. He was not going to start now. "I've had it."


	7. Chapter 7

The strutting of the Glamazon through the corridors seemed to be taken out of a movie. She was thoughtlessly cracking her knuckles, her nostrils were dilated and her eyes were narrowed as she held her gaze; Beth was so angry that she seemed to be blowing smoke out of her ears. She couldn't see anyone, she couldn't hear anyone. She had no idea how she was going to talk without using her fists.

Her night had seemed the longest in her career – only one match and one hour into the show but so much happened inside of her head, she couldn't wait for the show to be over. Now that she looked at it, she would certainly have to apologize to Rosa Mendes for being so harsh on her. Tonight more than ever, she was the personification of strength and violence.

How dare he?

She was completely confused about everything. Her best friend was hiding stuff from her, her boyfriend – well, ex boyfriend – seemed to have undergone a brain wash and Cody was nowhere to be found. Everyone avoided her for the whole night. It was like everyone knew what was going on; The staff moved fast backstage, everyone seemed to be interrupting conversations when she walked by, everyone looked at her as if she had issues, as if they knew something she didn't. 'Or maybe it's just in my head', Beth thought, letting out a sight. Now not only was she paranoid but she was also talking to herself. Great.

The Diva's feet were glued to the floor as her eyes met the black "WWE Superstars" sign on the closed door. She exhaled deeply and hardly blinked for a moment. Beth was not sure of what she was going to find – she wasn't even sure of what she wanted to find – but she hoped to be met with some answers from any of the parts involved, some clarification. A bit in fear, the blonde brought her hand up and touched the wooden surface with her knuckles, knocking gently a couple of times.

Slowly, the door opened after her touch, revealing an empty locker room with only a few bags, shoes and pieces of clothing here and there. But no answers.

Beth sat down on the bench and rested her head against the cold wall. What had her life become so suddenly? She was back in the business and gluing the pieces of her heart back together. And it was going well! It was going well until that inconsiderate asshole decided to interfere and make her unhappy again. She shifted forward on the bench and propped her elbows on her knees, cradling her face as her blonde tresses flew forth and covered her features. The Diva bit her lower lip to stop it from quivering but it was too late – faster than she could realize, her eyelids weighed down and a lone tear slowly streamed down her warm, bright pink cheek as she allowed herself to break down. In a whimper, "I loved him..." escaped her parted lips.

* * *

Cody Rhodes stepped inside of his hotel room, pushed the door closed behind him and didn't drag his bags any further, leaving them to rest against the wall right at the entrance. The wrestler stopped and leaned against the wall to get out of his shoes, hurriedly wiggling his left foot to free it from the sneaker and throwing them aimlessly to the side before doing the same with the right foot – this time much more swiftly.

With a loud, shaky sigh, Rhodes let his muscular body collapse onto the mattress with a soft poof that instantly informed him he would have granted a nice sleep... if he could rest at all, that was.

Pursing his lips and holding his breath for a brief moment, Cody brought both of his hands up to rub his eyelids, then unconsciously allowing his slender fingers to roam along his forehead, temples and down to his jaw. He finally breathed out in an even louder sigh than before.

'I loved him', Beth's murmured sob seemed to ring in his ears over and over again and, as his body lied there motionless, his mind was _everything_ but rested – Cody had meant to talk to Beth that night, after Natalya promptly informed him about the ultimate fight that had happened between the Glamazon and her now former beau.

But it was after he saw Beth entering the locker room and when he was on the other side of the door preparing his best speech and victorious smile that he aborted mission – when he heard her cry. _Cry_.

He had seen Beth upset many times before, he had seen her cry from anger, but this time... this time she was crying because of him and his malicious ways. He, a man that was determined to conquer her once more and make her happy again, had purposely gone out of his way to make her ruin her own relationship by playing mind tricks on her; he had then mastered CM Punk to believe she didn't deserve him and now Beth cried because she lost the man she loved.

"What kind of sick fuck are you, Cody?" He whispered to himself, acknowledging what he had done for the first time. He shook his head from side to side and squeezed his eyes shut, wishing all he had done away. But it wasn't that easy and so, with that thought, Cody pulled his phone from out of his pocket and pushed himself up to a sitting position, on the edge of the bed.

After a few minutes of staring at the lit screen, looking for the right words, typing and deleting, it was decided.

"Meet me in Nattie's room in 20. You deserve an explanation." He typed.


	8. Chapter 8

Beth Phoenix sat alone in Natalya's room after the third generation Diva left her to wait for Cody. She was much calmer now, Nattie's company usually did that to her – they had been sitting in the large bed for a while, Nattie's arm around her almost in a motherly way; "It'll be fine," was all she said – it was all she could said so far – but those words had been enough for Phoenix to feel it would be over soon. Nattie had then left, knowing that Cody was usually punctual and her room was to be used as a discrete place to them to talk and not for her to be a spectator. Beth's full lips twitched slightly when she remembered her friend saying "I hope you don't hate me after this," right before she closed the door. How would she ever hate her?

And then there she was, sitting down comfortably with her back turned to the door to brace herself when he walked in. She wasn't angry anymore. She couldn't even be sure she was sad. She was just... confused. She didn't intend on assaulting him, in fact, she didn't even intend on talking. All she wanted was to finally decode what was going on.

The gently knock on the door caused Beth to inhale deeply and straighten her back, with her blue eyes widened to the maximum and forgetting to exhale. Cody mumbled something resembling a "hey" as the sound of the door closing could be heard and Beth's lips parted to greet him although her words failed to come out.

"Sorry I asked you to come here... I just wanted to meet somewhere neutral. I don't want everyone else to make assumptions and talk about us. Things are bad enough as they are now..."

The blonde pivoted her body to face him at last and her heart seemed to suddenly race out of her chest as soon as her eyes met his figure – not even all the preparation in the world would have really prepared her for the sight of him. It was like she had forgotten how perfect Cody always looked, with being absolutely enraged with everything he did as of late, but the light blue Lacoste polo he was wearing reminded her, suiting his muscular torso perfectly and seemingly making his deep blue eyes even bluer. Beth closed her eyes and rested her hand against her chest for a second, almost telling herself to calm down and, after she swallowed the lump in her throat, she was ready to eye at him again.

Cody expected an answer from her but it never happened so, he took her position of facing him as a green light to proceed. "Listen, I..." He had no idea where or how to start. This was going to be a long one. "Beth, I'm sorry. I – it started when you told me you had Phil and I thought that was why you couldn't be with me. I decided to remind you of how much you loved me." Cody's eyes roamed around the room, only meeting Beth's briefly every now and again; his hands seemed to be out of control, fondling the hem of his shirt, rubbing the back of his neck, touching his chin... "The wallpaper of your phone, the photo on your dresser... it was me. With a little help from Nattie, granted, but it was all my idea. The photo of us in Aspen was your favorite and I wanted to remind you how happy we were… how happy _I_ made you."

So her best friend didn't lie to her – she truly hadn't done anything, she simply enabled Cody because she wanted to help. 'I'm such an idiot, it was obvious.' Beth thought, closing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest, scolding herself and turning Cody's tale into background noise.

Cody continued. "And then, I sprayed my perfume in the locker room, knowing it'd get on Phil's clothes too. Hopefully he'd be with you that night and in those clothes – which he was – and with a bit of help from Pavlov's studies about the classical conditioning, I knew it'd trigger something mentally on you. The rest was a Freudian slip." Rhodes paced around the room and tried to hide his bashful smirk upon saying the last part. Despite the ultimate result, Cody couldn't help but to congratulate himself on the absolutely brilliant idea. No matter how much Orton and DiBiase made fun of him for "wasting so much time" – as they said – watching shows about how the human brain works, it had turned out to be pretty useful.

Beth stared at Cody almost in awe. It had been an absolutely obnoxious thing to do but she had to give it to him – it was an unbelievable effort from his side. Of course the thoughts would never leave her mind as her expressions remained immaculate with the unimpressed gaze she held on Rhodes.

Cody locked his blue eyes on Beth's, awaiting a sign form her, either to proceed or to move no further but still nothing from her. So far, no yelling, nothing being thrown at his head… this was, after all, Beth Phoenix, a woman who knew how to take a blow – either in the ring or out of it. "Then," the Georgia native sighed, "I just had to talk to Phil, make him believe there were perfect relationships like mine and Layla's and that he didn't have to go through this." The wrestler motioned his hand between the Diva and himself. "I'm done with Lay, by the way. It was just a lie…"

"Well, isn't Cody Rhodes an evil genius?"

He let out a vexed sigh, placing both of his hands on his waist. What he had done hadn't necessarily been genius, he thought – sure, he did put more effort in a plan to get a woman than most men would but genius wouldn't be the word – and it hadn't exactly been evil either… it had simply escalated. Cody caught himself chewing on the inside of his bottom lip unforgivably as the blonde beauty walked in his direction with a remarkably serene expression.

There was nothing else Beth had to say, not even if she wanted to. The woman was utterly appalled that someone she thought she knew could just hurt – no, could _walk_ all over – her feelings to try and get her back; it went past all the usual efforts a woman could appreciate on the conquest game. The Diva walked by Cody and, without anything as small as a glance, she landed her hand on the cold doorknob.

With a sudden movement, Cody Rhodes slammed his hand against the door, catching Beth's attention by the corner of her eye. He wasn't done. "Beth, I am so sorry," he made sure to emphasize the word "so", his lisp becoming more pronounced than before, "You have no idea how truly sorry I am…"

"That's fantastic, will your apologize fix this?" Beth turned her head in a swift movement to face him, sucking one of her cheeks in to complete the unimpressed look. There was nothing the wrestler could say to make it better. In fact, nothing he had said would leave that room – there was no way Beth would explain the true story to CM Punk; she was sure he would harm Cody and then still find a way to harm his career permanently. At least with this she could get closure…

"You don't understand!" The man's voice amplified and he dared placing each of his palms on the blonde's cheeks. "I did this because I'm crazy about you and I was so focused in breaking you two up that it didn't cross my mind that I could hurt you." To the former lovers' surprise, Beth hadn't flinched under Cody's touch and he unconsciously rubbed his fingers against her skin. He hadn't touched her in so long that he was surprised with how well he was controlling himself not to devour her glossy lips. "But you loved him… I heard you in the locker room earlier… crying, saying you loved him."

"You! I loved _you_, you idiot!" Phoenix interrupted him with a step back, leaving the man with his hands raised in the same static position. "I would never do this to you, Cody! Never! Do you think I enjoyed seeing you with Layla everywhere I looked? Seeing you two get together only a couple of months after we broke up? How could you…" Beth shook her head from side to side, tilted her head back and ran her fingers through her light locks as she turned away. She couldn't face him anymore; her voice was cracking, she felt her throat almost closing up and her heart seemed to have sunk to her stomach. "You don't ever want to imagine the person you love being this selfish… betraying you like this… I don't want to see you unhappy and I expected you to want the same for me…"

Her words caught him off guard and, at the speed she progressed, there was no chance for him to brace himself for her confession. His eyes followed her movements and it was when Beth brought one of her hands up that he pulled her in against his chest without thinking twice. Her sobs only made him embrace her tighter in his muscular arms and when he felt her chest desperately expand against his own as Beth tried to catch her breath between cries and regaining composure, the room became blurred through his tears filled eyes. "Please forgive me…" Cody whispered, quickly rubbing one of his palms against his eyes before he freed her.

Beth sighed and licked her lips before her thumbs gently caressed the moist area under Cody's blue eyes. The corner of her lips headed north and the back of her hand flicked against her eyes. "I can't."


End file.
